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What happens when you ask an entire continent to illustrate its challenges and opportunities in photos?

That’s exactly what IBM’s newest research lab wanted to find out. Jonathan Batty, IBM Communications, Global Labs, shares how the World is Our Lab – Africa picture project was born: a three-month competition that asked participants to use cameras and smartphones to capture images that illustrate the continent’s grand challenges, city systems and examples of innovation. Learn more at: http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2014/03/photowinner-ibm-africa.html

IBM Study: Innovating in Africa

Learn from IT leaders ahead of the pack

On January 27, 2014, IBM announced the results of a new study entitled ‘Setting the pace in Africa: How IT leaders deliver on the potential of emerging technologies’, which found that while nearly 87 percent of African IT leaders rank new technologies such as analytics, cloud, mobile and social media as being critical to business success, only 53% are pushing forward with adoption. Africa’s IT and business climate is changing rapidly and the booming technological and consumer revolution is underway. But for all the new opportunities there also are some leadership challenges, skills shortfalls and security risks that threaten to slow tech-driven progress. However, pace-setting IT leaders are tackling these challenges and positioning their organizations for competitive advantage.

What’s holding businesses back – and giving Pacesetters the lead:

STRATEGIC BUSINESS LEADERSHIP FOR IT: African Pacesetters do more to tangibly demonstrate the value of emerging technology. They are 30 percent more likely than their peers to link IT investments to business outcomes.

IT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT: Half of African businesses are still addressing IT skill deficits and not yet developing skills to transform the business. BUT – Pacesetters are 80 percent more likely than their peers to cultivate IT skills to meet future business needs.

INFORMATION SECURITY: The majority of African companies cite security of emerging technologies as a top-of-mind issue. BUT – Pacesetters are 30 percent more likely to create a risk-aware culture, employ new security technologies and bolster security skills and expertise.

The African continent accounts for 14 percent of the world’s population and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. With a growth rate expected to average 7 percent annually over the next 20 years, Africa is poised to become a leading source of innovation in a variety of industries. With this growth comes many challenges spanning traffic congestion to the delivery of fresh water.

If you have what it takes to help solve these grand challenges, the IBM Recruiting team invites professors, scientists and qualified university students to participate in a Research Virtual Recruiting Event for several open positions at our new lab in Nairobi, Kenya. The event will take place on 5 December and you can participate in several ways.

The new IT platform, based on IBM System x servers, IBM Smarter Storage systems and IBM DB2 software, will help provide advanced integrated mobile services to millions of new Cameroonian subscribers.

Viettel Cameroon S.A.R.L is a joint venture between telecommunications companies Vietnam’s Viettel Global and Bestinver Cameroon S.A.R.L. This project will make it the largest telecommunications company in the country, with 6,000 employees and a network covering 81 percent of Cameroon.

“This agreement marks our significant commitment to Cameroon – the second market in Africa we have invested in,” says Phung Van Cuong, CIO of Viettel Group. “IBM’s rich portfolio of smarter computing solutions is enabling us to provide next-generation wireless services at much lower cost.” Get the full story.

As part of its ongoing expansion in Africa, IBM has opened its first IBM Innovation Center in East Africa. Located in Nairobi, Kenya, the center will help fuel growth and innovation in the region. It is co-located with a new IBM Client Center that brings IBM’s expertise to clients in the region.

The new IBM Innovation Center aims to nurture and grow regional IT innovation and help startups and new business IT solutions get to market faster. Read more.

At IBM women have been making contributions to the advancement of information technology for almost as long as the company has been in existence. Today, women represent approximately 30 percent of IBM employees worldwide and more than 22% of our global executive population is made up of women, two-thirds of whom are working mothers.

Are you looking for a new challenge, inside a progressive organization that values and rewards collaboration, innovation and creativity? If you want to focus on today’s most exciting technologies — Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud — the opportunities are endless and you can make a difference at IBM.